The Single Judge of the Delhi High Court had recently restrained the Defendants, Sammaan Capital Limited and Ors. (part of the Indiabulls Group) from using the trade marks SAMMAAN and SAMMAAN CAPITAL which the Plaintiff, Svamaan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd., alleged to be similar to their SVAMAAN trade mark. However, the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court on February 18, 2025, stayed the operation of the judgment till the disposal of the appeal filed by the Defendants.
The Plaintiff is an RBI registered non-banking finance company, incorporated in 2017, that operates under the trademark SVAMAAN and provides services such as micro-finance loans for business, education, and medical emergencies. In contrast, the Defendants, which were previously known as Indiabulls, changed their corporate name to SAMMAAN/ SAMMAAN CAPITAL in July 2024, and applied for trademark registration under these names, despite being notified of the Plaintiff’s prior use of SVAMAAN. The Plaintiff argued that the Defendants were attempting to infringe on its SVAMAAN trademark by using similar names for similar services, providing loans.
On February 10, 2025, the Delhi High Court ruled in favor of the Plaintiff and restrained the Defendants from using the SAMMAAN and SAMMAAN CAPITAL trade marks. The court concluded that the trade marks were phonetically and structurally similar, and the differences between the marks were not significant enough to avoid confusion in the market. It was also noted that consumers, irrespective of their background, might be misled into believing the Defendants' services were connected with the Plaintiff's. The court rejected the Defendants’ argument that they offered larger ticket loans, differing from the Plaintiff’s micro-loans, as the services were still related and could cause confusion. The court also rejected the Defendants’ argument that the SVAMAAN trade mark is publici juris in relation to financial services.
However, on February 18, 2025, the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court stayed the Single Judge’s order pending the appeal. The stay was granted on the conditions that the Defendants include the caption “formerly known as Indiabulls” and a statement that they are not connected with the Plaintiff, prominently on all their advertisements and promotional campaigns. The Division Bench has yet to make a final ruling on the appeal.
Svamaan Financial Services Private Limited v. Sammaan Capital Limited & Ors., CS (COMM) 871 of 2024, judgment dated February 10, 2025; and Sammaan Finserv Limited v. Svamaan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd. and Ors., FAO(OS) (COMM) 26/2025, judgment dated February 18, 2025 Click here to read the injuction Click here to read the appeal document
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